Greek bailout
Democratic control is essential
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has written to European Parliament president Martin Schulz, calling for a stronger involvement of the Parliament in the supervision of the latest Greek aid programme. While the Greens have been critical of the terms of the latest programme, they expressed their full support with the initiative by prime minister Tsipiras, with Greens/EFA president Philippe Lamberts commenting:
"Proper democratic control of the Greek aid programme is essential. As a group we have serious doubts about many of the elements of this programme, which look set to exacerbate the economic and social situation, if there is no attempt to address Greece's unsustainable debt burden. The Greek people need solidarity from Europe and the direct involvement of the EU Parliament in the oversight of the programme will ensure greater legitimacy than if simply left to technocrats. The Greens have called for a greater supervisory role for the democratically-elected EU Parliament for years. We now call on parliament president Martin Schulz to immediately begin discussions with his colleagues from the European Council and Commission with a view to concluding an agreement to this end without delay."
